JohnQ

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is also streaming on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Night-at-Opera-Groucho-Marx/dp/B004SCMGSU

I would love to see Devin and Amy argue over a Marx Bros. film. Since at least one of their films belong in the canon, I think a really interesting twist would be to do a versus episode, pitting one of their anarchic Paramount comedies against of their later MGM films. The obvious MGM choice is A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, arguably their best film, but one that represents a clear delineation from their manic early films. They would never make a film that well made or funny again. Choosing a Paramount film is much more difficult. The obvious choice seems to be DUCK SOUP, but I actually prefer ANIMAL CRACKERS or HORSE FEATHERS. Maybe even MONKEY BUSINESS.

I still think it'd be fun

Devin was tweeting about THE KING OF COMEDY the other day, which leads me to believe they're recording an episode about it (or maybe they already have), but in case they haven't, I would love to see a Versus Episode between THE KING OF COMEDY and THE MUPPET MOVIE. They're my two favorite movies about showbiz. Each stars a man (frog?) who is just desperate to break into showbiz, except one is dark and gritty and uncomfortable and the other is the Muppets. They're also both from the same era (MUPPET MOVIE is 1979 and KING OF COMEDY is 82).

Interesting that the best two SNL feature films are also the first two.

It looks like the clip that movie is from is GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, but I don't know who the actress is. Sorry.

That's actually really arguable. There are a number of Max Bros fan who don't think DUCK SOUP is their best film. Matthew Coniam makes a great argument in his book "The Annotated Marx Brothers." DUCK SOUP is a great film, but how can any Marx Brothers film that doesn't include Chico playing piano or Harpo playing his harp be their best film? Groucho's songs in DUCK SOUP are also not his best, definitely not compared to "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It" in HORSE FEATHERS or "Hooray For Captain Spaulding" in ANIMAL CRACKERS (which would be Groucho's theme song for the rest of his life.) The most memorable sequence in DUCK SOUP is the brilliant mirror sequence. Like I've said, it's great and very funny, but it is a Marx variation on a standard comedy routine, rather than a totally original routine, unlike something like the classroom scene in HORSE FEATHERS or Groucho recalling the African safari in ANIMAL CRACKERS. Here's a supercut of mirror routines, btw: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/03/21/the_mirror_routine_in_movies_supercut_from_duck_soup_the_marx_brothers_and.html

I feel like this would be a fun episode. Some people really love the Eddie Murphy version of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (Chris Rock called it the funniest movie of all time: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/5-Greatest-Comedies-All-Time-According-Chris-Rock-68419.html) I imagine Devin and Amy have some fascinating thoughts about Jerry Lewis.

Even so, I don't think you can deny Jerry Lewis's place in pop culture. Love him or hate him, he's a fascinating personality, and he was basically THE comedy auteur of the '50s and early '60s. He kind of bridged the gap between the silent writer-director-star comedians like Keaton and Chaplin and later comics like Woody Allen and Mel Brooks (both of whom he collaborated with or nearly collaborated with). NUTTY PROFESSOR is his best film, and has the most recognizable iconography. I think it would make for an interesting episode of the Canon because, even though he's grating and his films are dated, Jerry's films still hold a weird place in cinematic history. Also, he practically invented video assist technology.

Devin, there's a variation of that joke in the movie (where the woman falls into a big hole), but I think you're thinking of a Laurel and Hardy bit. There's definitely a clip of Laurel and Hardy where a woman steps off a curb onto a mud puddle, and her whole body sinks into it. The way the bit with Ringo is framed, you see him put his jacket down outside of the shot and the woman falls into something (but it is the third time we've seen him put his jacket down, so we can assume it's over another puddle). Laurel and Hardy place their jacket down on a mud puddle that is clearly in the shot, and when the woman steps on it, she doesn't fall out of frame (like in HARD DAY'S NIGHT, but sinks into the puddle)

One of the few Olsen twin movies made for the theaters (and their final film to date). I have seen some of this movie, and it is very surreal. It also stars Eugene Levy as a truancy officer trying to find the girls, and Andy Richter who was adopted by Chinese parents and speaks with a ridiculous Charlie Chan-inspired Chinese accent. Either of these guys would be a great guest on the show, and could shed some insight into how incredibly talented actors sometimes appears in incredibly terrible movies.

From director, Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme stars as a clown pickpocket living in 1920s NYC, caring for a group of orphans. Chased by the cops, he stows away on a ship, is discovered by pirate Roger Moore, sold into slavery, trained in martical arts, and then competes in a giant tournament. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-8WuCEYL74

Yeah, as far as I'm aware, that's the only scene in the movie like that too.

"Marching Out of Time" is a movie about some time traveling Nazis who get accidentally get sent to a suburban neighborhood in contemporary (1993) LA. They are developing a matter transporter to send them to England, but it interferes with a matter transporter being built by a mad(?) scientist in 1993 LA (because space and time are basically the same thing. If you can travel through space, you can also travel through time). All in all, watching the film is very bizarre 74 minutes. I think it was supposed to be a comedy and looks like the budget was less than the average student film. The trailer is on YouTube here, and does a pretty good job selling it: This movie somehow makes time traveling Nazis seem boring.